TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

Graying Of Nation Impacts Presidential Race

ADVERTISEMENT

By ADON TAFT

Life to the Fullest

Published: June 23, 2008

Because of the age difference between the two major party candidates for president, the age of voters and their interests and concerns, it may be important to examine some statistics.
Some may consider that the presumptive candidate of the Democrat party, Sen. Barrack Obama, at age 46, is too young to be president. Others may think that the presumptive candidate of the Republican Party, John McCain, at age 71, is too old to serve in that capacity.
Of course Sen. Obama meets the Constitutional requirement of age 35. But that age was set at a time in our history when the average life expectancy was 35. Today, the average life expectancy is 78. So, you could argue, the minimum age requirement today should be 78.
However, you could argue that people mature earlier today because of the exposure to the world through the Internet, television, radio and all sorts of print media. Therefore, Sen. Obama could be said to be as mature as most of our presidents whose average age has been 55.
Then it could be said that Sen. McCain, because of his age, is likely to be more in touch with the concerns and thinking of a majority of the voters in this country and a growing number of the citizens of most other nations.
Since 1945, the nation's population of those 50 years of age or older has more than tripled from 30 million to 94 million. While that group makes up just 31 percent of the total population and 41 percent of all eligible voters, according to patterns in recent elections, those 50 and older will cast more than half of all ballots in the upcoming presidential contest.
Projections are that in the next 10 years the percentage of the U.S. population 60 years of age and older will grow by 6 percent to almost one of every four persons. Similar growth will take place in France and the United Kingdom. In Italy and Japan, the growth of that age group will be 10 percent to one person out of every three. The 6 percent growth in that segment of the population of India and China will result in one of 10 persons in that group in India and one of seven persons in the 60 and over age bracket in China.
In the United States, at least, the women who fall within the 50 and up parameters are most concerned about the economy – 87 percent put the cost of gasoline at the top of their list and 79 percent rate food costs right behind it, according to a survey for the AARP by Lake Research Partners.
As reported in the current issue of the AARP Bulletin, the other key issues in the minds of those citizens are health care -- 73 percent -- and Social Security -- 68 percent.
The editors of the Bulletin note that "health care costs are soaring to the point that they are driving the burden of Medicare and Medicaid even more dramatically than the growth of the older population." Added to that is the fact that "there's a striking imbalance between the growing number of older patients with complex needs and the shortage of skilled health-care providers, between the need for family and professional caregivers and the scant attention and resources directed to geriatric training and education."
However, the presidential candidates might be advised to listen to those editors' quote from James IH. Schulz, and Robert Binstock, authors of "Aging Nation": "The issues confronting older people – individually and collectively – are not now and will not in the future be hermetically sealed from the rest of society."
To which the editors added: "Nor can the solutions be. Navigating the minefield of health, financial and workplace issues efficiently and with equity poses a formidable challenge for the nation and its next president."

If you have questions about any issues related to aging, except medical conditions, please write to Life to the Fullest, Hernando Today, 15299 Cortez blvd., Brooksville, Fla., 34613, or send e-mail to adontaft@yahoo.com. Please include your name and address.

Adon Taft is a resident of Brooksville.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT